April 24, 2012 – Barbara Braidwood and Rick Cropp are Vancouver based writers who recently wrote this article about their travel in Mexico, I thought it was important to share it.
“12 Murdered, Millions Weren’t.”
Bet you haven’t seen that headline anywhere. According to many of the news reports, all of Mexico is in flames. According to the statistics, it is not. We were in Zihuatanejo last year where we had a typical sun, sand, cerveza and siesta vacation. The scariest part was the driving and the young shotgun toting kid timidly guarding the armoured cars servicing the local supermarket. Otherwise, it was a wonderful vacation and we didn’t feel unsafe. We are not sure we would have gone if we had just paid attention to the news before we went. Instead, we did our research.
The fact is that there are drug wars in full swing in the U.S., Thailand, and dozens of other regions. Although the numbers differ in each report, stats compiled by a variety of agencies show that Mexico as a whole is not at the top of the list of dangerous vacation spots. Just as a little comparison, while searching for stats, one of the maps that scared us the most showed murders in Washington, DC. We have relatives who live in the area so we go out at night to some great restaurants. If we had seen the map showing the clusters of murders just off the Mall and the White House lawns (See: Gun violence in the United States), we are not sure we would have gone to the Smithsonian Museums, much less to dinner. If you want to be extra safe from drug violence in Mexico, check out the map and article (See: BBC World-Mexico’s Drug Related Violence). There are plenty of tourist destinations that are still normal for tourist. When compared to Washington, DC, Cancun and other tourist hot spots seem to be pretty safe.
Also, follow these 3 simple common sense rules.
- No. 1, don’t deal in drugs or associate with those who do.
- Don’t hang out in bars where everyone is armed.
- Don’t accept invitations to mansions far out in the desert.
Update on Alberta RVers Lyle & Marie McCann
Travis Vader, 40, was charged Friday, April 20, 2012 with two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of deaths the elderly St. Albert, Alta., couple Lyle and Marie McCann. Vader was first identified as a “person of interest” soon after Lyle, 78, and Marie, 77, disappeared in July 2010, and was later upgraded to the status of “suspect.” Vader was arrested at the Edmonton Remand Centre, where he had been held on unrelated charges. His first court appearance is slated for May 15, 2012 in Edson, Alberta.
The McCanns left St. Albert the morning of July 3, 2010, on a leisurely trip to meet their daughter in Abbotsford, B.C. Their burnt-out motorhome was found two days later, in an isolated area near the Minnow Lake campground, about 150 kilometres west of Edmonton. Though RCMP immediately were able to identify the McCanns as the vehicle’s owners, they didn’t realize a serious crime had been committed until the couple was reported missing by family July 10. At that point, the case quickly became a double homicide investigation. The SUV the couple had been towing was found in a remote wooded area nearby, six days later. Though the McCanns’ remains have never been found, they were declared legally dead last summer.